FCC Pushes Forward Emergency Text Alerts

The good folks at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) want you to know you and your mobile phones are on their minds as they adopt rules to deliver alerts to you during emergencies. These alerts would come in the form of text messages warning you Armageddon is upon us.

The New York Times reports this plan is the result of the Warning Alert and Response Act, a federal law from a few years ago which states the emergency alert system needed to be upgraded to better alert people like you and I to emergencies. The new Commercial Mobile Alert System, as the FCC calls it, will “transmit text-based alerts to wireless carriers who choose to participate.

Most major wireless carriers have signed on for this, reports PC Magazine, including Verizon, Sprint and AT&T. The alerts themselves will be broken up into several categories, including national emergency-related alerts, imminent threat alerts and child abduction related alerts.

While I like to play with the latest gadgets, I am even more interested in broad technology trends. With mobile now taking over the world - following the latest technology news, looking for insights, sharing and discussing them with passionate audience - it's hard to imagine a better place for me to be. You can find me on Twitter as @UVStaska'